


You are Human, You are Real

by Pinkwebby



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Android-Like Lavellan, Life Magic, M/M, Magic-made Human, Mentions of Being Held Captive, POV Dorian Pavus, creation magic, mentions of blood magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 04:49:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17176217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinkwebby/pseuds/Pinkwebby
Summary: Dorian begins to learn life magic, a magic that creates life. And his first experiment to create a human succeeds.





	You are Human, You are Real

**Author's Note:**

> This was one of the ideas I had gotten when I played Detroit: Become Human. I really hope everyone enjoys it, I definitely enjoy writing it a ton. It's refreshing to do a Pavellan fic, since I haven't done one yet. :)

Chapter 1:

When using magic, it is good to get invested into your work. I like to think I work pretty hard, but I was never one to get emotionally invested into what I was doing. Alexius was a great mentor, I enjoyed being his apprentice. His research always fascinated me. Time magic was interesting sure, but he dabbled in another magic that always caught my attention.

Life magic. It was a lot different from necromancy, which I practiced. Instead of bringing people back, he used magic to try to make live things from scratch. It was a dying magic, no one used it because it never gave results. But watching Alexius make a squirrel from nothing but his magic was…nothing short of amazing.

I took over the research for him when he delved into his time magic. He wasn’t very interested in the life magic, he was never able to get further than making small creatures. It was a hard magic, one that yielded very little results with all the work you put in. But what mage wouldn’t be fascinated with life in their hands? It was almost like being a god. Though I suppose I knew that becoming a god, especially a Tevinter one, never turned out good. 

I worked my ass off day and night, hoping something would breakthrough. I barely saw Alexius, I barely saw Felix. My notes could fill up an entire room, sometimes they made no sense. Other times when I had a break-through, I’d run out of my room looking like I got two hours of sleep. It wasn’t a good look for me, I’ll tell you.

I had gotten confident in my work, I could create a wolf, a bear. Creatures that didn’t look exactly like their real-life counterpart. You could tell they weren’t natural. But I was so excited how far I pushed the limits, I kept going. Alexius became more curious with my work the bigger the life I created. I spent two years of my life on creation magic, life magic. I avoided my parents, who were on my tail about marriage. I wasn’t going to marry that woman, she was absolutely awful.

Creating human life was more complicated than an animal or plant. Sure, animals had emotions, but they couldn’t think like humans did. It was going to be extremely difficult to create a conscious being who wasn’t just a complete machine. I didn’t want to create a machine with no emotions, I wanted something that was real. Alexius was interested in the opposite, something that could follow orders without complaint. That’s the first disagreement we had on the subject.

It took me many years to create my first human. I had grown a lot, I wasn’t a plucky 18-year-old under the guidance of a great Magister. I was 24, and a master of necromancy and life magic. Ironic, to say the least.

With life magic being so fickle, creating a human required many ingredients, a considerable knowledge in alchemy, and a steady hand. I knew drawing magical circles could make smaller creatures, but would a circle still work to make a human? Using Alexius’ ties, I got the ingredients I thought I would need, and began the tedious process of creating life. You have no idea how long I stayed in my room, pulling my hair out while measuring precise ingredients into a boiling pot. My literal sweat, and tears went into this work.

I thought I could give the person human emotions, I thought all my experiments would lead up to giving an actual magic-made human ezmotions. But somewhere, it seems I didn’t do something right. Maybe the animals I created didn’t have emotions. I could remember playing with the first dog I made, I thought it was very happy. But maybe I misjudged it because I wanted to move onto humans. Maker knows I might get a bit too enthusiastic with my studies.

“Please, just work. I’ve measured every ingredient to the ounce, drawn the circle to perfection. I don’t think I can handle a failure. Not after everything I’ve sacrificed. Just make this go right, please,” I whispered into the pot where I stirred the required items together. This was going to be the first test, with the materials I had figured would make a human…well, human.

With a deep breath, I took out the silver dagger in my boot. I cut the palm of my hand, hissing at the stinging pain. I squeezed my hand into a fist and let my red blood drip into the boiling liquid. I stared at it for what seemed like ages, my breath held in. When nothing happened, my whole body sagged, and I slammed my fist against my leg in frustration. Even with all my knowledge, I couldn’t create a human. I didn’t want to cry, but a few tears streamed out unconsciously. They dripped into the pot without my knowledge, and I got up to get away from my failure. I scooted my chair back and stood, turning away from it.

When there was a flash behind me, I whipped around. I almost knocked over my chair as I stared at the large cauldron in amazement. There was a hazy, warm, golden glow emitting from it. I eagerly stepped closer, but the light began to grow brighter. I had to shield my eyes, the glow burning through my hand a bit. 

When the light settled, I quickly opened my eyes and removed my hand from my face. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but what I saw took my breath away. A human, an actual human! The cauldron I had sitting in the middle of the magical circle had disappeared, leaving behind something even better. It was curled in the fetal position; its skin was pale, and it had long white hair. I moved closer, careful not to scuff the magic circle I made. I might not be able to replicate it later.

I crouched down and reached out tentatively. I was scared it might have some kind of malformity, something that would make it a failure. Or it could be just a shell with no consciousness. So many fears and doubts swam through my head as I placed my hand on its cheek and gently turned its head, so I could get a good look at it. My eyes widened, and I let out an excited smile. It was good-looking, very much so! That would be a plus! Maybe it was my blood that gave it such beautiful features. Its face looked a bit delicate, but with a strong jawline. I curled a piece of its hair behind its ear and to my surprise, it wasn’t a human at all! It was an elf! My eyebrows furrowed, and confusion tugged at me. How could it be an elf? What ingredient would change its race specifically? Could I make Qunari beings or even dwarfs?

While I examined its naked skin, skipping over anything private, I noticed it looked relatively normal. It was a male, it seemed, and more questions bugged me. How did I make it a male? Was it my blood, or was it some ingredient that changed the gender? Was it actually a male, or should I just keep referring to it as an ‘it’? I didn’t notice it opened its eyes until it started to move. The creature shifted, arms moving to push it into a sitting position. I scrambled back a bit, eyes wide as I watched it move into a sitting position. Its long, white hair cascaded around its body. 

I peered into its eyes, curious what color they were. A lot of my magical creatures had purple, glowing eyes, a side effect of being magic-made. This elf seemed to have normal, teal colored eyes. I sighed in relief. It was conscious, it could move the upper half of its body. That was farther than I thought I would get.

“Um, hello. Can you…understand what I’m saying?” I asked cautiously, speaking slow.

The creation blinked once and focused its gaze on me. With a tilt of its head, it nodded. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. It could understand what I was saying, how in the Maker’s name- no it’s best not to question. But at the same time, I was itching to figure out this little puzzle I put in my own hands. It could understand language, it knew human body language a bit, it could move. 

“Can you stand? I want to see if your legs are in working condition,” I stated, making an example by getting up myself.

The creature sat for a moment, almost as if it was thinking of what to do. Then, it slowly stood up. Its hair went all the way down to its calves. And it wasn’t until it was standing that I again realized it was naked. A blush rose in my cheeks as I glanced at its…ahem, assets. I quickly turned around, looking for something to cover it up. I snatched up my discarded cloak on my table and went to wrap it around the elf.

It had moved closer to me, it was standing a couple inches away from me. Its head was tilted as it took me in. I moved, putting my arms behind it and quickly adorning it in my black cloak. I clasped it in the front and gently took a hold of its shoulder to step it back.

“Keep that on, it will keep you warm,” I stated, letting out a reassuring smile.

“Master,” He said, his eyes on me. I blinked a couple times and involuntarily took a step back. He followed me, and his hand reached out from under the cloak. He softly placed it on my chest, over my beating heart. My heart was racing at this point, unsure what I should do. I wasn’t expecting this to happen, I was honestly expecting this first recipe to be a failure. So, when his other hand came out and interlaced our fingers, I could only stare at him in surprise. He led my hand to his body and set my hand on his chest. His skin was hot to the touch, hotter than I was expecting. I almost pulled my hand away, but I was surprised to feel that there was a steady thrum under his skin. There was some kind of…. heart in there? My mind raced as I tried to think what ingredient could be taken to make a heart. It couldn’t be an herb, it had to be something harder, maybe some type of rune…

Before I could get too much more thought into it, the door to my room burst open. Alexius was there, he looked a bit concerned as he entered but it immediately disappeared when he saw my creation.

“I came because I saw that bright light, but I assume this is what became of it.” He grinned and stepped forward to stand next to me. I hastily removed my hand from the elf’s chest and softly moved his hand from me.

“Yes, my experiments paid off, believe it or not. This is what became of it,” I gestured to the elf with a small smile.

“Well, this is better than I expected, Dorian. Now, you wouldn’t mind if I took it off your hands for a while, yes?” He reached out and grabbed a hold of the creation’s chin, turning his head to look at him.

“Wha-why? I created him, shouldn’t I be the one to test on him?” I protested, glaring over at my mentor.

“I’m more experienced than you are, Dorian. I can preform more tests on it than you can in a short amount of time. I can figure out everything about it within a week, if you’ll just let me. And then you can have it back and create more,” Alexius said with a grin.

I hesitated, glancing over at the elf. I didn’t really want to let Alexius have it, but I really didn’t think I had a choice. This man took me on drunk off the streets, I owe him quite a bit.

“I suppose…that you can look him over for a week. I’m sure I won’t miss him that much,” I mumbled reluctantly.

“’Him’? Dorian, this is not a living human, it is a magical creature,” Alexius let out a throaty laugh. He reached behind my creation and grabbed him by the neck. I instantly lurched forward, as if to slap Alexius’ hand away. But I had to refrain from doing it because I knew it would just cause more problems.

“I will keep it in my research room. You can come in and check on my progress every once in a while,” Alexius told me, before leading out my first human creation. I bit my lip as they left, everything I wanted to say dying at my lips. It was only a week, I think my curiosity could stay dormant until then. Maybe.

But after that one week, something horrible happened. Felix, Alexius’ son and his wife were attacked by darkspawn. His wife died. And one of my most trusted friends, only given a few years to live. It was heartbreaking, and I totally forgot about my magical creation. The only thing both Alexius and I were worried about was finding a cure for Felix. It consumed me, even more than life magic did. I wanted to study more life magic, perhaps we could use a new body and transfer Felix’s mind to it? But would that work, was that something we could accomplish?

Alexius turned away from life magic and instead studied further into time magic, wanting to reverse time to go back to when Felix was attacked. I thought that was foolish, and we argued about it. We had already spent precious years doing all this research, what would us time traveling alter? I didn’t want him to do it, so he sent me away. I spent many years living in what I call ‘luxury’. Gorgeous men, drinks, and houses of gold. No one cared where I came from, only what I could offer. And I kind of liked it, to say the least. To not be worried about research, to live a bit carefree. I could charm my way into many households, take what I wanted and leave without a trace. Well, at least that’s what I thought.

I could remember exactly who’s house I was at. Caius Abrexis, or at least his father’s house. We stumbled upon one another while at a tavern. I liked his style, he liked my prowess. It was a small fling that gave my life excitement for one moment. We were so busy with each other in his bed, that we didn’t know people were invading his house, killing his guardsmen. I was forcefully dragged from his bed, my eyes wide in panic. I could barely stumble into my pants as armed men violently took me from Caius’ house. I always wonder if he ratted me out, selling me to my father.

Maker knows how long I stayed at my old house, trapped like a bird in a cage. Sometimes I could roam around the house, to look at unfamiliar surroundings. I wasn’t raised here, I was raised in a circle. I had no idea where I was. 

Most of my time was spent in a simple room, handcuffed with runed steel that kept me from using magic. A new invention from a friend of my father’s. 

I spent five years as a prisoner in my own family’s house, they eventually moved me into the basement because I would scream to alert guests. Sometimes there was sleeping powder in my food, something to keep me quiet. I rarely got to see the sun, the brightness and the heat on my skin. 

It felt like an eternity, but finally I was moved out from the basement. A bag was put over my head, and when it was taken off, I was being strapped down to a table. Panic instantly set in and I struggled against the guards who were placing my wrists in leather restraints. 

I couldn’t remember much of what happened, I knew blood magic was involved; I can remember screaming, my blood curdling scream. It was only after it was over that I was told why it happened.

“We want what’s best for you, Dorian. You have such amazing magical talent, and you waste it on nothing. You’ve done enough fooling around. It’s time to take your place here,” My father explained while I silently sat at the dinner table.

“What…were you trying to do to me? I can’t believe-“

“It was necessary, to save you. We had no choice, Dorian. You were ruining your reputation while sleeping around-“

“With men? You did this…to change my- to make me-“ I choked on my words, my eyes swimming.

He didn’t bother to answer me, he looked at me with pity. And I didn’t want his fucking pity. I wanted to be no where near him anymore. I wanted to be away from this god-forsaken house. When he sent me to my room, I escaped. I don’t know if the guards felt pity for me too, letting me leave in my weakened and fumbling state, or if I just was able to sneak out. Either way, I ran. I didn’t know where I could go, who would help me. But my first instinct led me to the gates of Alexius’ house.

I was still a bit drugged, handcuffed, and I could barely see straight, let alone function. But I needed somewhere safe for just a moment. To gather my bearings and keep moving. When I got into the house, it was evident that Alexius wasn’t home and hadn’t been for a little while. I stumbled towards my room, slamming open the door. I leaned against the wall to catch my breath, before moving towards my bag hanging on my coat rack. I sagged heavily to the right, almost running into my table. A lot of my research notes were missing, the ones on life magic. I couldn’t read my own handwriting.

I sat down on my bed, staring at what was left of my old room. My eyes got blurry and I wiped at them furiously. My eyelids felt so heavy, my body even more so. I found myself laying back, my head against the wall. Just a few minutes, then I must keep moving, I thought to myself, before falling asleep.

When I awoke the next time, there was yelling outside my room. My consciousness was a bit skewered and I had a hard time moving. But I got up, albeit a bit drunkenly. I grabbed the bag I had and began to stuff what notes I had left into it. 

“Someone has broken in; the door was wide open! I want guards searching every inch of my estate. If they stole anything that could be of value to my son, I will hunt them down. Why are you standing around?! Find them!”

I rubbed my eyes a few times to get the fog away and stuffed the last of my notes in my bag. I slung it over my shoulder and went to the door. I lived close to the entrance, but guards would be standing by in case I tried to run. I had to go further into the estate, use one of the tunnels Alexius had for emergencies.

I opened the door slowly and peeked outside. No guards were by my door, there was no one down the hall. I quiet stepped out and shut the door silently. I made my way down the hall, checking behind me and around corners every time I passed one. The tunnel entrance was in Alexius’ research room. They probably searched there first, so I could enter without much complaint. No one knew there was an escape route in there, so they wouldn’t be expecting it. I was getting close to the study when I heard a shout. I turned my head to see two robed men running towards me.

I lurched forward, sprinting down the hall and up a flight of stairs. I knocked over a statue to block them from following. When I reached the end of the hall, I threw myself into the nearest room and shut the door as quietly as possible.

When I turned around, my eyes widened in surprise. My breath caught in my throat as I took in what this room was being used for. Magical human husks hung on the wall, their eyes glassy and their skin was white as snow. There was no magic in them, but they were magic-made. Alexius had been using my recipe, but it seemed he was missing something that added life to them. They were all failures. I careful stepped towards the desk with more of my notes on it. I grabbed them and stuffed them in my bag as well. Life magic was not supposed to be used like this. This was awful.

I grabbed a hammer on the desk, destroying the cuffs around my wrists. My magic began to flow through me again, after being stunted for the past couple of years.  
As my eyes scanned more of the room, they caught sight of something familiar. Long white hair, pale skin. I hurried over to my first creation. He was strapped to the wall, his head hanging forward. He was completely naked, and some of his skin had been cut opened and sewn up again. But it wasn’t healing at all. I feared he was dead, what did Alexius do to him?!

I tentatively reached out and placed my hand against his chest, hoping and praying something was beating inside him. My eyes widened, and I bent down a bit to look at his face. His eyes were closed, but something was still thrumming in his chest.

I don’t know why I decided to bring him…it, along. It was going to be so much work to carry him with me to the research room and out through the tunnel. But when I stared at him, how he was forcefully experimented on and had awful things done to him. I just couldn’t leave him. 

So, I reached up, undoing his straps. His body limply fell into my arms immediately and I almost fell over. With an ‘ _oomph_ ’, I caught him just in time. I dragged him over to the desk and laid him on it. I needed something to cover him up with. I didn’t have a cloak on, and my clothes weren’t exactly in the best condition. I searched around and found one of Alexius’ ugly robes. I gently lifted the elf up and put his arms through the sleeves, using the robe’s belt to tie it around his waist. His chest was partly exposed, but I wasn’t trying to cover that up at least.

I could hear footsteps getting nearer, and I knew I was running out of time. I slipped my hands under the man’s neck and knees, heaving him close to my chest. I wouldn’t be able to use magic like this, but this will keep my creation safe. I went to the door and clumsily opened the door. When I saw the coast was clear, I stepped out. I went back the way I came, taking a left into a different hallway. The research room was two doors down, I just had to get there without a guard noticing. It wasn’t that far, but of course a guard was patrolling the hall just as I stepped down it. She yelled at me, throwing magic my way. I could barely dodge it, almost dropping the elf in my arms. I pulled him closer into me, his head resting against my chest. I sidestepped the guard, who moved to apprehend me, and kicked her as hard as I could as I passed. I heard knees hit the ground and I grinned smugly. I burst through the research room, shutting the door with my foot. I had no time to lock it, I had to go through the tunnel now. I set down the elf in a chair, before rushing over to where the item to open the door was. With shaky fingers, I began to weave the spell that opened the door. It wasn’t that long of a spell, but I could hear the guards coming.

“Stop! Put your hands on your head!” The door flew off the hinges, going across the room and breaking potion bottles on Alexius’ desk. I flinched and kept working on the spell, ignoring them.

“Dorian Pavus. So you’re the one who gave these guards such a wild goose chase,” I heard a familiar voice, and I turned my head slightly to nod at Alexius.

“That was me, you know your guards are terribly useless? I slipped past many of them without issue,” I retorted.

“You are my star pupil, you know the ins and outs of this estate. Now, why don’t you stop that spell and let us talk,” Alexius stated calmly. But I could hear the cold fury in his voice, and it reminded me instantly of my father.

“Fat chance. You know, I thought you were different. My father wanted to change, even if it meant forcefully changing me. And it turns out you are just like him,” I spat in his direction.

“Why do you say that, Dorian? I let you stay in my house, learn my magic, do whatever you please? How am I like your father at all?”

“I saw what you are using my magic for. All my research on life magic. You are trying to make a human, but instead of doing your own research, you hurt my first creation. This man is alive, and can feel pain! And you decided that his pain was worth the little reward you got from it? That is exactly what my father is like, that is Halward in the flesh.”

The spell was finally done, the door of the tunnel opened slowly across the room. All I had to do was grab the elf and run. 

“I am using your magic to save Felix! Isn’t that what we both want?!”

“Felix wouldn’t want this! Hurt one man to save another from pain? That isn’t right, Alexius! What I saw in there wasn’t for Felix. You are doing something else with life magic, aren’t you?!” I inched my way towards the lifeless body I left in the chair.

“What I do with your research now is none of your concern, because you are worthless to me. Hand yourself in and I won’t have to kill you, Dorian. We can still do this together,” Alexius reached out towards me, and his guards readied up behind him.

“Get the hell away from me, Alexius. I want nothing to do with your twisted magic,” I hissed, before using force magic. I pushed him back with what little magical strength I had and lunged for the unconscious elf. I grabbed him, carrying him as I did before, I made a mad dash for the tunnel entrance.

“Kill him, kill him now!” Alexius yelled behind me.

I felt the sparks of magic around me, making my neck hair stand on end. I flew down the stairs on the tunnel, but not before taking a bit of cold magic to my side. Pain shot up my spine and I tripped down the remaining stairs. The door closed behind me and left me in complete silence.

My lungs screamed for air, my chest heaving as I got on my hands and knees. I was so cold, frost was eating at my skin around my side. I groaned as I stood up. Ahead of me, the body of the elf laid limply on the ground. As hastily as I could, I came over to him and lifted him up once again. My side burned with cold fire, and I almost passed out from the pain.

When I could see clearly again, I trudged forward at an achingly slow pace. The tunnel seemed never ending, darkness felt like it was closing in around me. The only sound I could hear was my own rapidly beating heart and my heavy breath. I held the man in my arms close to me, the only comfort I felt.

I couldn’t catch my breath, and it was honestly getting harder to breathe. My vision was blurry and I was extremely dizzy. I could feel the cold soaking through my skin and chilling me to the bone. The pain was numbing and stinging at the same time. Almost like frost bite, I would assume.

I don’t know how long I traveled down the tunnel, I couldn’t remember where it led out either. Perhaps it led right out of Tevinter into Nevarra. Or even all the way to Orlais. I didn’t want to be in this tunnel for that long though, it would take more than a couple days and I didn’t have any food. I only had my notes, and I would die before I did anything to my notes.

Finally, my clouded vision and dizziness got too much for me. I collapsed down to one knee, my breath labored. I set down the elf in front of me, moving my hand to clutch at my side. I gasped for air, feeling like I was choking. I shivered violently, my consciousness wavering. I didn’t want to pass out, especially down here. Alexius could have followed me through the tunnel. I tried to snap myself out of it, but the pain was so much. Maybe just a little break would be okay. I had to wake up after five minutes, or else we could be captured…

I fell forward, right into warm arms. I looked up as my vision faded, the last thing I saw was a pale face.

“ _Master_ …”

~

“Maker’s breath, I feel like I just took a punch right in the face,” I mumbled groggily as I opened my eyes.

My first thought was, _Where the hell am I?_. Then it dawned on me what had happened, what Alexius did to my creation, what my father did to me. I tried to sit up, but there was warmth on my side, it was so soothing and comforting. And it also was firm enough to keep me down, and I could barely struggle against it.

I peered up and white hair tickled my nose, dangling above my forehead. I hesitantly moved it, so I could see the elf above me. He was staring down at my face, he didn’t seem real for a moment. His face was empty, no emotion at all. He almost looked like a doll. If he didn’t blink and tilt his head, I would’ve almost expected him to be.

“Master,” He rumbled, letting out a small smile. He seemed pleased I woke up, and I was excited that he showed a bit of emotion.

“What are you doing to me?” I questioned, my hand going down to where his was on my side. I lifted it off of me and sat up. I turned around to face him, raising my eyebrows.

He watched me silently, as if absorbing what I said. Then he looked down at his hands, “Heal.”

My eyes widened, and I quickly got on my knees, lifting my shirt. I felt the skin, noting it was very hot to the touch. There was no pain, no trace that I was hit with an ice bolt. I turned my gaze up to the elf with surprise and awe. He could use magic, how in Andraste’s name could he do that?! So many questions filled my head, but I knew that the only person who could answer was myself. I did create him after all. He probably had no idea how he was created. Only that I created him.

I stood up, determination in my eyes. I reached out and helped my creation up. I gently clasped his hand and grinned.

“We’re going to Ferelden, and I’m going to teach you,” I said, squeezing his hand in between mine.

After a moment, he copied my look, “Teach me.”


End file.
